Adventures in genealogy

2010 iGENE Awards…and the winner is…

Each year, the Academy of Genealogy and Family History (AGFH) offers genealogy bloggers the opportunity to celebrate the “best of the best” – our best blog posts for the previous year. After reviewing all of the entries, reading the critics’ reviews, and tallying up the votes, it’s time to roll out the red carpet and present the honors. Welcome to the 2010 iGENE Awards starring What’s Past is Prologue!

Best Picture

“You have such neat parents! And what great pictures you have of them. Excellent story.” ~ Greta Kohl from Greta’s Genealogy Bog

The Best Picture award goes to It All Started at a Dance. Even though this was more of a “story” post than a photographic post, the pictures helped illustrate the story of my parents. They met at a dance, and they continued to dance. I haven’t seen them dance for a while, but I bet they still would…if it was a good song!

Best Screenplay

“Great story! I have complete faith that eventually you will learn the rest of the story.” ~ Michelle Goodrum from The Turning of Generations

The story of my grandaunt, The Sister Who Disappeared, wins the award for Best Screenplay. Janina immigrated to the United States as an infant. Life was hard in the family’s new country, and she began working in factories as a teenager. But “Jennie” left her family for a new life with a new love…and she was never heard from again. Was her life a classic love story with a happy ending? Or a tragic tale? The film would tell Jennie’s (hopefully exciting) life story – and give me some much needed answers!

Best Documentary

“Wow. The description of the battle is breathtaking. What an amazing, horrifying first-person account. It gave me the chills. Thanks for this great series!” ~ Amy from They That Go Down to the Sea

The award for Best Documentary goes to the 5-part series on Bavarian Military Rosters. Specifically, Part 4, The Great War and the Homefront, would make a riveting tale. This episode revealed the details of the battle that cost the young German soldier, Josef Bergmeister, his life. Meanwhile, the Bergmeister cousins who immigrated to the United States faced different challenges as the Great War raged on.

Best Biography

“Now THAT was a fun read! Now if you’ll just do Donald O’Connor…” ~ Kerry from The Clue Wagon

I didn’t write many biographical sketches on my own ancestors in 2010, so my Best Biography award goes to Climbing Up Gene Kelly’s Family Tree. I’ve been devoted to Gene Kelly for so long that I know his genealogy almost as well as my own. After taking up the Carnival of Genealogy challenge to start researching someone’s ancestry from scratch, what family secrets would I uncover about my favorite film star? [Hint: His Irish eyes are smiling, but Gene also has German genes!]

Best Comedy

“Ah! The Killer Prayer Chair. Starting with this Stephen King quote set the tone and direction of this article. I knew something was coming. Just perfect. You are the master storyteller.” ~ footnoteMaven

The winner of the Best Comedy award is…The Killer Chair. I wrote this as a Memory Monday post – just a random memory from my brain. But it was such a funny memory that I found myself laughing almost as hard writing about it as I did when the chair tried to kill my sister-in-law and me. There’s a story behind everything – especially inanimate objects that innocently grace the background of your family photographs.

I’d like to thank the Academy for these awards, all of the great “reviews” from the critics, my adoring fans (see photo to the left), and our iGENE hostess with the mostess, Jasia!